Pumpkin spice, schmumpkin spice. Here’s a better way to mark the arrival of fall

Sanity for the whole family, right this way

Signs Back-to-School Season is Here

• School buses. Somehow, seemingly as many of them as there are cars. The streets are teeming with them. It’s like a bad horror movie, except it’s Real! Life! Traffic!

• The tiniest twinge of coolness in the morning  – it’s definitely not “crisp”, but there’s enough hint to give someone hope that one day, it might be. 

• A sudden, inexplicable urge to buy a new notebook… even if you have a whole drawer full of empty notebooks waiting to be filled (is it just me?).

• Lots of press coverage around the return of pumpkin spice coffee at Starbucks and Dunkin. Because really, what else is there? ☕

Even if you haven’t set foot in a classroom in years, there’s something about this time of year that just screams FRESH START!!!

Not just to the kiddos heading back to homeroom, but for grown-ups too. 

Including the high achievers who are juggling things like taking care of parents or kids or both, working, investing in their own development, and trying to maintain a modicum of downtime.

Sure, you’re not in algebra class trying to solve what X and Y are anymore (hooray and hallelujah for that). But if you’re like 867.5309% of the population, you probably spend a lot of time trying to master the convoluted math of success. 

It involves measuring both subjective and objective values like investments, expenses, happiness, stress, and health… of course with an inverse relationship between children and rest.   

Which can all be a bit much, no?

Hence the appeal of the whole “fresh start” thing. 

And I've got just the thing to help with that:

A field trip! 🚌

I mean, breathwork. 

Learning to control your breath will help keep you sane when you’re rushing back and forth to fit everything into your busy life while keeping stress and anxiety from piling up faster than faster than your child’s homework.

Research shows that breathing patterns can alter your brain wave activity. Deep, slow breathing can help with both going to sleep and falling back asleep. Conversely, breathing with quick, sharp inhalations can help you feel more awake.

When you stop to objectively think about it – how amazing is it that you can make these big shifts physically, mentally, and emotionally using just your breath?

Pretty f*cking amazing, I think.

Anyway, in keeping with the back-to-school theme, I thought I’d share with you my favorite breathwork technique to improve your sense of focus and calm.

I figure it can help you AND your kid(s) if you have any. 

Discover the Box Breath 📦

Box breathing is part of the inspiration behind the name of my breathwork coaching business, 44 Breathwork. It’s also one of the techniques Navy SEALs use during missions to bring themselves out of fight or flight mode. 

And you know, if it’s good enough for the Navy SEALs, then it’s good enough for me!

This is a super-simple technique that’s as straightforward as it gets. Here’s how it works.

1. Inhale through your nose for 4 counts.

Yep, just like that. Nothing fancy.

2. Hold your breath for 4 counts.

Don’t worry, it’s only 4 seconds—you’ve got this.

3. Exhale through your mouth for 4 counts.

That slower-than-usual release feels great, doesn’t it?

4. Hold for another 4 counts.

Because it’s all about balance.

That’s it. 

4 second inhale. 4 second hold. 4 second exhale. 4 second hold. 

Rinse and repeat for 3-5 minutes and see how you feel afterwards. 

The beauty of the Box Breath is that it works at multiple levels. You’re changing your physiology by activating your parasympathetic nervous system. It’s like turning on an instant “massage on the beach at sunset” switch – even if your nearest beach is thousands of miles away. 

You’re also forcing yourself to concentrate on maintaining your rhythm, which gives your brain something more immediate to attend to than the million things swirling around in your head. 

With this move, you’re basically distracting yourself from whatever you’re ruminating on – while at the same time, minimizing your response to it in the first place. 

Two birds. One stone. Hell yeah. Let’s do this!

Actually, the stoning birds part is downright cruel, so let’s just skip to the breathing.

Set an alarm right now and go for it. Try box breathing for just 3-5 minutes. Let me know in the comments afterward how you feel.

And if you still want to go on a field trip, I recommend a visit to the Coral Castle.

How did one diminutive person move and carve those massive stones by himself? We may never find out… but I don’t mind the mystery 🤷‍♀️

Last Gasp

Box breathing is sometimes called square breathing because of the four equal “sides”. If you like this breath, you can also make it more of a rectangle with a 5-3-5-3 pattern, where you inhale and exhale for 5 seconds and hold for 3 seconds in between each.

It’s a subtle difference compared to 4-4-4-4, but you might be able to feel it. And you might find that you strongly prefer one to the other!

Also… have I mentioned that I’d love to hear your thoughts on this newsletter? Yep yep, I really would. What do you want to see more of? Any particular topics you want covered? Leave a comment and make your mark 🎯